


Making It Right

by sans_souci2



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M, U.S. Navy SEALs, proud!Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-01
Updated: 2011-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 22:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sans_souci2/pseuds/sans_souci2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're living together and it's all good except for the fact that Steve sneaks off a few times a month and won't tell Danny what he's up to. </p><p>When he finally takes him along, it's an eye opener that all but levels Danny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making It Right

They're speeding across the island and a song is playing on the radio but Danny isn't hearing it. 

What's playing in his head is a conversation he had with Steve months ago. Every word comes back to him like it was yesterday. _  
_

_I don’t get why I can’t come with you to where ever the hell it is you’re going._

_Is there a question in there, Danny or are you just doing that word slinging thing again?_

_God damn it Steve, answer me._

_Like I just said – it’s something I need to do by myself._

_And you cant’ even tell me what it is? I mean my imagination is going to run –_

_Trust me, it’s nothing anywhere near the stuff that twisted imagination of yours is going to come up with._

And now he's finally been invited to tag along?

Trust McGarrett  to provide non stop mental whiplash.

The passing scenery goes out of focus again as Danny fast forwards to just this morning when Steve finally came clean and told him what his little sojourns were all about. They had been creeping along the H-1 and  were both in crappy moods when Steve had announced he was taking off again after lunch and as per usual wouldn’t say where.

That conversation comes back to Danny just as clearly.

_Ok that’s it. I'm not jealous or mistrustful but when you’re in a relationship you tell your partner where you’re going and what you’re doing. You don't just take off and refuse to say where. In fact, as soon as you start keeping secrets you might as well throw in the towel because you’re headed for big trouble._

A scary silence was all he got back.

 _Steven_ , _typically this is the point where you say something-you yell, scream, beg, grovel-doesn't matter what, you just say something, please._

_I’m thinking Danny._

_You’re thinking? Oh that's lovely. Care to clue me in"_

_I’m deciding how to answer you without inviting a ten minute rant._

_A rant?_

_Or whatever you call those diatribes of yours when the subject has anything to do with my military service._

_Whoa - you lost me there big guy._

_Ok Danny-here’s the honest truth. When I take off, like I have to do this afternoon, it’s for Reserves training- as in the Naval Reserves - you know-the branch of the military that's letting you and I play cops and robbers?_

Practically giddy with relief, Danny had asked an honest question. _Why the hell all the mystery then? You could have told me that from day one. Reserves training? Seriously? So what do you do -march around with your big bad guns and practice looking tough?_

_Yeah something like that._

_And you have to do it this often?_

_I choose to do it this often._

_Wait, you choose?_

_That's right._

_So you don’t have to, but you choose to go off and do this as often as you do?_

_Just give it a rest how about it Danny?_

That's when a weird feeling had twitsted Danny's stomach in a knot-exactly the same feeling he got when he was being played

_God damn it Steve, you’re making me crazy here. First you tell me it’s some Reserves thing. Then you get that look on your face and your voice goes funny and I’m back to thinking you’re –_

_I’m what?_

_I don’t know- that you’re hiding something._

_Okay that’s it!_

Danny vividly remembers how scary Steve had suddenly become-how the vein standing out on the side of his neck looked ready to burst which made what happened next that much more surprising.

_Okay fine, Danny.  Come with me this afternoon. If you’re going to be so damn paranoid- you can check out exactly what I do and then you can make fun of it for the next five years._

Nothing about the offer had felt right. _  
_

_No, that’s okay. Forget it._

_What?_

_Look, I’m sorry. I'm being a jerk about this._

Steve had taken a slow deep breath and locked that laser stare of his on Danny. _“You’re serious? This twenty questions thing every time I go is over?_

_Over and done with._

Danny meant it too. He had mimed zipping his lips and given Steve a comical eyebrow wiggle to seal the deal.

_Well good. I’m glad to hear it._

_Can I just say one thing?_

_Okay one thing._

_Do_ _you even know how jealous I am that you get paid to go play bad ass mother fucker soldier games?_

_Sailor games, Danny. It’s the Naval reserves._

_Soldier, sailor, whatever. I’m just saying you’re a lucky boy._

Steve had looked over and flashed him a grin that said things were too good between them to let stupid things get in the way for very long. Then, giving Danny a very suggestive grin he'd admitted, _You’re right, D. I am a very lucky boy._

 _______~_______

 

They’ve been driving for nearly twenty minutes. It’s still a little hard to believe that he’s actually going to see firsthand what Steve’s training exercises involve. Danny wishes they’d hurry up and get there. “So how much farther?” 

“Patience Danny.”

“I’m just asking, I mean you won’t even tell me where it is we’re going – come on, throw me a bone."

“Ten more minutes. There, are you happy?” 

“No, but thank you for the generous morsel.” 

“You’re very welcome.” 

_God that grin of his should come with a warning._

Danny stretches out to ease the congestion behind his zipper and closes his eyes. He’s trying to guess what military facilities are ten minutes away but the thrum behind his zipper makes cognition downright impossible. He can't help it; his mind wanders back to last night. It had been too late for reasonable working people to be up but they were both wide-awake and lying on top of a tangle of sheets. At the time, Danny wasn’t even sure his voice was going to work when he gave it a try.

_Tha….was … awe…some._

Okay so he'd managed to be halfway coherent.

A breathy snort followed by a light kiss on his forehead had been the best Steve could manage. At least the loss of IQ points seemed to have hit them both. They were quiet again for a while until Steve untangled himself _.  
_

_Danny, I’ve been thinking_

_Whoa hold on. Those are definitely not my three fav words-_

_Shhh, hold on yourself- I think you’ll like this._

_What? You want to make an honest woman out of me?_

_No out of me -an honest man that is._

_Maybe it’s because you just fucked me senseless- I’m not following you._

_I really want you to come with me next time I go to one of my Reserve things._

_You serious?_

_Yeah._

_They’d allow a mere civilian like me onto the sacred grounds?_

_A simple yes or no is all I’m looking for._

_Sure, count me in. Hey do you think they’ll let me play with the guns and grenades-maybe teach me some of your fancy Ninja moves?_

_No Daniel. They’ll let you sit quietly and watch with all the other children._

 _______~_______

They're slowing down now but Danny sees nothing that looks even halfway like a military training facility. When they turn onto Kahawalu Drive he frowns, “The Punch Bowl? Seriously? You do this stuff at the Punch Bowl?”

The Punchbowl is what the locals call The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, a sprawling and beautiful final resting place for men and women who’ve given their lives to their country. It’s actually one of the few tourist spots Danny has any interest in seeing but he’s never told Steve. It just didn't seem right what with his dad being buried there.

“Okay Danny, I have something to confess. I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

The sudden way too serious look on Steve’s face scares Danny but he bites his tongue and nods for him continue. 

“The thing is... my Reserve stuff doesn’t really have all that much to do with what you think it does. I’m not here for training or competency testing or anything like that. I’m here for, well, for a funeral.” After Steve says it, he glances over at Danny’s utterly perplexed expression. “Look, if you just come with me and do what I tell you-I swear, every one of your ten million questions will be answered."

Danny nods okay and says nothing-for some reason he feels like it’s his only move. As they drive onto the grounds they pass a sun washed white chapel on their right. In front of them rolling green grounds extend as far as they can see. The place feels strange-not in a bad way, though, kind of like the way church used to feel when Danny was a kid.  Once they park he gets out and scans the area, squinting at a towering stone wall about a hundred yards away. He wants to see what the inscription under the bust on the wall is but Steve is grabbing a suit bag from the trunk and telling him to hurry up.  When they get to a low stonewall Steve hands him some kind of program.

 “Here,“ he says. “Wait here and read this. When those people over there start moving, follow them. I’ll meet up with you when this is over.”

_______~______

An hour later....

The last bugle note has faded away and most everyone is headed back toward the parking lot but Danny stays behind, still starring out over the rows and rows of graves. The white headstones blur and seem to melt into the grass in sharp contrast to the crisp, clear images he's seeing in his head.  He remembers the ivory program with its stark black lettering. He can still picture that back panel -the one that really tripped him up when he read it _,_ **Honored Guests and Special Participants**. It had been a short list: the second name made him stop and stare: **Lt. Commander Steven McGarrett-** **Representing the Secretary of the Navy-**

Talk about being ambushed.

The more he  had read the more he couldn’t believe what he was reading. He had sat there oblivious to the breeze picking up and the people passing by him and read the entire program over again. 

The soldier being buried  had gone missing in the Korean war- not been killed a few weeks ago and sent home to be buried but disappeared two continents away from home so damn many years ago. 

Then, last week a team in the port city of Chagang had found human remains and US military dog tags. 

His name was Kenneth Robert Dorsett. He was from Fairfield, Connecticut and fifty-eight years ago he’d left behind two little boys and a wife named Elizabeth. 

Today all three of them had come to bury him. 

Clutching the program, Danny had hurried to join the crowd of mourners walking toward a freshly prepared gravesite. When he saw a proud white haired woman being escorted to her seat, his chest  had tightened. Elizabeth Dorsett might have been up there in years but she was full of dignity and grace-just like his grandmother when they buried his granddad. His chest had ached as he watched her sitting there starring at the flag draped casket. 

The ruddy-cheeked chaplain with the Irish name who welcomed them was a Navy Chaplain, he had explained, because Kenneth Dorsett was a Navy man. He told the mourners that even though the body of a beloved sailor had only just now come home - his soul had always been in God’s hands. He talked about the bravery of going to war and of being left behind and of growing up without a father. The two, starting-to-go-grey men flanking Mrs. Dorsett had wiped their cheeks, unembarrassed as their mother squeezed their hands. The chaplain promised that their father’s funeral would not be the last- that no fallen soldier would be left behind on foreign soil thanks to a team just a few miles away at Hickam that was working tirelessly to identify the remains of fallen heroes all around the globe.

 As it turned out, the funeral was going to play havoc with Danny’s chest more than once. Strains of the National Anthem were playing the next time it happened but it wasn’t the music that did it. As the anthem played and a seven-man detail took up its position on a rise overlooking the grave his eyes had roamed from one solemn young face to the next and he winced. For some reason he could barely breathe around the knot in chest when the somber quiet was shattered by the sounds of their rifles. 

When the retort from the rifles faded it was time for Steve to step forward- all six feet and more of him in dress uniform looking like something out of a movie as he approached the casket and nodded for two soldiers to follow him. 

At first it was hard to believe it was Steve standing there ramrod straight with his jaw clenched so tight it trembled. A second later when he began to direct the folding of the flag with nothing more than subtle movements of his eyes, it wasn’t hard at all.

When the flag had been formed into a perfect triangle, he took it from the men with a nod and then clutching it protectively to his chest, approached Kenneth Dorsett’s widow- not with a stiff legged march, but with a slow deliberate stride that exuded respect and deference. When he reached Mrs. Dorsett, he extended the flag to her with both hands-as if the weight of all that it represented warranted nothing less. Not put off by her tearful nod when she took it, he removed his cap and dropped down on one knee, leaning in to say something to her that no one else could hear but everyone wondered about because as she listened, a trembling smile had slowly spread across her face. Smiling back, he had squeezed her hand then stood and saluted the family–not for a second or two but for a long intentional minute as the late afternoon sun glinted off the medals and the buttons on his jacket. 

There could ahve been no better representative of the Secretary of the Navy or of the whole damn country if you asked Danny. Standing there, statue like, it was as if Steve had been channeling all that was brave and courageous and selfless about America’s military. Just the sight of him made Danny’s chest feel like it was about to explode. 

The final and most painful assault to his poor chest was launched minutes later by one lone man who couldn’t have been twenty years old. Danny should have known to expect trouble from the baby-faced corporal when he stepped out in front of the color guard. It was as if there was a collective bracing for what he was about to do. 

For good reason.

As each plaintive note from the young man’s bugle floated up into the azure sky, tears began to spill down deeply lined and youthful cheeks alike. Danny watched Steve fight them, his body never giving up its perfect attention even though his eyes glistened and jaw trembled. Watching him stand there in the dazzling sunlight and knowing the depth of sacrifice he has and is willing to make sat off a final excruciating ache in Danny’s chest and blurred his vision with tears.   
 _______~_______ 

“Hey.” Steve’s voice is so soft Danny barely hears him but the grip on his shoulder is so strong it almost hurts.

“Hey yourself.” 

“So now you know.” 

Steve's sheepishness only makes it harder for Danny to not wrap him in a crushing hug. “Yeah. So now I know.” Not sure how to put what he’s feeling into words and feeling awkward in a way he never has before, he stammers, “Hey…, that was… it was… beautiful.”

Shaking off the compliment, “I just want to make it right for the families.”

Danny nods thinking to himself that no one on the face of the earth could have made it any better. “Well trust me, you succeeded.” They stare out over the rows of graves letting the light breeze and late afternoon sun ease them back after what feels like a long separation. Finally Danny breaks the silence, “Is it always a funeral that you go to?”

“Not always. Sometimes it’s a medal ceremony at Hickam-in the hospital or on the parade field.” His voice softens with sadness, “And, sometimes it’s a dedication of a plague on that wall over there because a soldier’s remains are never going to be found.” 

After he takes a deep breath Danny says, “What you do, Steve, coming here like this, is so damn important. That widow hasn’t seen her husband in fifty years but she will never stop seeing you and the way you took such incredible care to honor his memory.” 

Steve nods then gives him one of his boneless shrugs that says he wants to move on.

_Not so fast._

Danny pokes at the grass with the tip of his shoe. When he looks up he’s got one of those mischievous grins toying with the corners of his mouth.“ I… gotta say. You look uh... you look really good.”

That earns a snort and eye roll from Steve who almost sounds like himself again, “So now you’re a sucker for a man in uniform?” 

“Only one man.” 

Now Steve’s grin is full blown and Danny smiles back at him, feeling like his chest might burst but this time, with something wonderful. “Come on, show me around this place.”

“Seriously, Danny? I mean I'd love to but isn’t it about time for you to start whining about your empty belly?” 

  
_______~______

_Epilogue_

As they drive away, Elizabeth Dorsett catches a glimpse of the officer from the service. At first she thinks she's seeing things- he and a light haired shorter man seem to be fighting. As the limo gets closer she sees they're just playing around the way her boys used to. In fact there's a grin on the Lt. Commander's face that reminds her of Teddy's during his pretend scuffles with his brother. Sinking down into the seat, she's surprised at how relieved she is.

_So he does have a friend with him._

_Thank goodness_. 

She’d been worried about him ever since the service ended. It was that look on his face that did it. As blurred as her vision had been there was no way to mistake that he was fighting back tears.

_For sure the young man had suffered a painful loss in the not so distant past.  
_

“What are you smiling at Mom?” 

“Oh you’re going to think I’m crazy.” 

“Just tell me.” 

“It’s that officer over there-” She nods out the window.

“What about him?”

“I’m just happy to see that he’s not alone after the ceremony-that he has a friend with him.” 

“You’re right Mom," her son says shaking his head and smiling like he's got a big secret.  "I’d say you're pretty close to certifiable.”

 


End file.
